


Smile!

by magicflowr (orphan_account)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Femslash February, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, POV Lesbian Character, POV Third Person, Pre-Killing School Life (Dangan Ronpa), heavy fuyuhiko is gay implication, koizumi POV, mahiru is straightforward but she is not straight, real subtle tenmikan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 17:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13792458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/magicflowr
Summary: Mahiru Koizumi is collecting smiles, as usual. Over time, her goal obscures.She sets about planning a confession with the boy who knows her best, and not even the threat of the yakuza will stop her kissing that girl.(EDIT: Hi! This is future Rain. I'm keeping this up for posterity, but it needs a serious rewriting. I'll get on it, though!)





	Smile!

_Of course, I over-estimated him._

Chisa’s here. Usually, Sonia would be as well. She’s good company, genuine company, she knows exactly what she’s doing if you steer clear of certain topics. Mahiru did expect her company while she waits, thinking maybe she could tell someone her plans. Sonia is really the only student she likes to turn to for chats like these.

Alas, the princess isn’t available. _I’ll shoot her a text, make sure she’s alright._

For now, it’s her and the teacher, half an hour before class starts. Chisa isn’t bothering her as she pins photographs to the noticeboard at the back of the classroom, removing the old display and re-arranging according to colour and shape and size. She’d been going back to her roots for the latest project, getting everybody’s smiles as she always did. Everybody in the class.

Chiaki’s suggestion.

 _I do wish I had_ some _company._

There are patterns to the arrival times, but the exact order is almost impossible to predict.

She finds a photo of Sonia for the edge of her display - a marker for where she wants the collage to end. This is the only shot she’d taken on her own time, out of school hours. She’s the only one she sees out of school hours really (despite numerous invitations to Peko and Chiaki), aside from Hiyoko. Mahiru had dived into a store to pick up some supplies, but the largest photography store in the city may not have been the place to take a culture-enthused Novoselic.

_Do they not have… photography in her country?_

Sonia says everybody there is a skilled painter, and they have no need for cameras. This explains nothing. Mahiru given up and wandered over to the film cameras for her latest project and lost Sonia the second she turned her head. A search of three floors found her chatting away with an amateur crime photographer, marvelling at his pictures with a huge grin on her face. Mahiru had to drag her away and explain that someone who called himself an **_amateur_** _crime_ _photographer_ probably wasn’t up to any good ( _does he just... take photos of crimes he comes across?_ she thinks, recalling the incident).

She picks up a photograph of Souda. He should go at the top of the display, a portrait photograph, perfectly presented. _I’m rather proud of this one._ He’s smiling at something Fuyuhiko said – she remembers capturing the moment of laughter just before the tiny yakuza had turned on him with his usual bout of curse words. Souda is reliable – well, that’s up for debate. But he’s a regular, he used to turn up even before Chisa made homeroom mandatory. Getting a stepladder for the sake of appearances isn't worth it so early in the morning, so she climbs on top of the counter below the board and pins Souda to his now accessible place on the board.

Time-wise, the same goes for Mikan, she thinks, deciding where to put her photo. If some horrifying accident doesn’t befall herself (or someone else) on the way, she'll be on time. It _is_ meant to be a display for her homeroom members only, but it doesn’t have the same impact cropped. Mikan’s photograph is really adorable. A landscape shot of two girls - Chabashira from the class above in the middle of giving Mikan some sort of pep talk. The pastel shades of the nurse's office contrasted with the bright colours the two girls wore. Mahiru remembered walking in on the two in the middle of the encouragement and snapped a photo of the most genuine smile she’d seen from Mikan since they’d started school. 

 _Chabashira’s a good one. They both are._ She pins the photo below Souda’s.

If Mikan is in homeroom, Hiyoko is in homeroom. She practically follows the girl around, waiting for the opportunity to call her a pig, a coward, a… few words that Mahiru doesn’t care for. Hiyoko’s smile isn’t difficult to catch, but like Fuyuhiko, her smiles are often at the expense of others. Recently, she made an effort to go to one of her dances and support her friend; the smile she’s been given as she sat front row had been perfect. Hiyoko is a beautiful performer.

 _She’s learning. Kind of. I have hope._ The photo, portrait, goes next to Mikan and Chabashira.

Most of the school’s athletes train on campus – so they’re either very early or very late. Today, it seems, they’re late. They’re always  _at school_ early, but often too pre-occupied to notice or care that class is starting. The morning training is different depending on the day for the more regimented athletes, but despite Nekomaru's protests, Akana will stop whenever she feels like it. At least once a week, however. Akane will challenge Nekomaru to a fight - so on days like these, they’ll be in the school gym through homeroom.

The photo she pinned next to Souda was a double shot, landscape, of the two in action during one of the more… performative fights. She’d blown this one up to double the size of the rest – her action shots are getting better and better. These fights, while annoying and somewhat terrifying, are decent practice for photography when Peko isn’t around.

 _Encouragement_ is her title for this photograph. The two had passion in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Sonia’s shouts of ‘ _you go, girl’_ caught Akane’s attention in the moment and made her happy (presumably because Akane was the one who’s taught her the phrase). Akane in passion is a superhuman sight, she becomes electricity in human form, weaponised joy and passion and _determination._ A sight to behold. Nekomaru is grinning at words from Gundham. Mahiru had found the cheers of ‘ _Slay the she-beast!’_ demeaning and had given the idiotic breeder a good telling off afterwards, but Nekomaru had looked so delighted that Gundham simply engaged.

_The pride of a team manager, apparently._

Teruteru would observe these whenever he could – never making it clear what exactly _who_ his perverted eyes were on. The boy has unconventional tastes- no, unconventional isn’t the word. Unlimited tastes. Of all the boys in her class, he’s the most upfront with his mediocrity, but sincerity does not endear him to her in the slightest.

His photo, however, she looked upon with fondness. Mahiru had known from the start that she’d get the best photo when he talked about home – having a camera around her neck 24/7 came in handy.

She pins it next to Hiyoko's.

It’s a portrait picture of Teruteru holding a certificate, cookery related. He’d burst into the room with it one day and started _‘This’ll help wit’ mothe-‘,_ then stopped, panicked at the three or four people that had actually engaged, and continued _‘This’ll get me the shiniest, most well-paid job in the city, just you wait.’_ Everybody knows he works with his mother, and everybody knows how much he loves it. The ‘man in him’ (as he liked to say, smirking at his own innuendo) keeps up pretences of a flashy lifestyle for his own sake, more than anyone else’s.

There are non-athletes with similar pre-occupations. The wildcards. _As if they aren't_ all  _wildcards._

That’s Gundham, Ibuki, Komaeda. Ryota, to a certain extent. Gundham and Ibuki make use of the school’s space in a comparable way to the athletes – Ibuki dominates the theatre and Gundham… is Gundham. She suspects the dark lair he hides from homeroom in is just a cover for an animal shelter, a petting zoo, something like that. _It’s admirable work, don’t get me wrong! But he’s so obnoxious about it._

The photo of Gundham she pins next to Akane and Nekomaru. It’s landscape, but about half the size. Gundham loves five things – his four hamsters, and every other animal in the world. He’d put on a petting zoo a couple weeks back, and every shot from that evemt was a winner. He shouts his so-called ‘demonic’ curses like Fuyuhiko shouts curse words, but when people appreciate his creatures, he melts. She took this shot after she dragged Peko in, and Gundham looked _so damn proud_ that his four hamsters didn’t run from her. He’d promised to teach her ‘deepest compassion of the spirit,’ which she assumed was his way of saying he’d help her with animals.

_A good day._

Ibuki goes below Gundham. It's portrait photo, one of her more… artistic photographs. She’d doubled the size of this one as well, just to see if the quality held up, and had decided to keep it. She knew from the start that Ibuki would be an easy target for this project, the girl never stopped smiling and it was always, always genuine. Many people use overexuberance as a cover for something deeper, but not Ibuki, it seems. She lives her life for herself and her friends and her art. Mahiru forced a challenge on herself for this shot – nothing simple for Ibuki.

Ibuki’s performances are stunning. This photo, while featuring Ibuki’s flashy smile, is a low-angle shot taken through strings of ribbon that puts the focus on the body more than anything. She remembers the day well – Ibuki had gone backstage and come out with a ponytail, way, _way_ more eyeliner, a black and white plaid button down (sleeves torn off), and leather trousers (pink and blue, one leg each colour). Boots of the same colours on alternate feet, laces that matched the trouser leg they were against. The outfit was stunning, the performance was stunning. It had almost felt like she wasn’t singing heavy rock about a miserable, pregnant ogre.

" _Ibuki looks like she's in a rock magazine, is it time for her Playboy spread?"_

It is not.

Now, Komaeda. The landscape goes next to Gundham, the edge of the board. If Ibuki is a self-imposed challenge, Komaeda is a challenge imposed by the universe. It's not that he’s not genuine, he’s not a liar or a pervert or any of the things she typically hates about men (she _thinks_ ). He's cheery and generally pleasant but he’s not like Ibuki, there’s _something else_ there. Mahiru doesn't care to look past the self-deprecation.

His photo is very geometric, clean, simple. She’d been walking to class and spotted him in one of his own classes, gazing out the window at… the sky? Probably. He was on a high floor, so the photograph was another low-angle shot (he wasn’t on a _super_ high floor, but it was a high enough angle that she’d had neck pains for _days_ after craning her neck to get it). The students behind him were involved in some game or some group activity that Komaeda had taken a break from. Maybe he was never invited. But he looked so _happy,_ just for a second, that she thought his friends had to have included him.

_Almost done. The colours are looking well together._

Ryota. Genuine was not the word she’d use to describe him. Well, maybe he is, but he’s around so god-awfully little that it’s difficult to get an accurate reading. He was the hardest by far to get a photo of, seeming to dodge her camera no matter who it’s pointed at. But days ago, finally, she’d caught him hiding (presumably from the teacher running past him at full speed) behind a bush with a self-satisfied _‘Ha! I’ve lost her’_ smile on his face.

He had not lost her. Nevertheless, she got the photo.

Chiaki is turning up earlier and earlier these days. Chiaki is… admirable. At the start of the project, she’d seen Chiaki as one of her biggest challenges, but something about her is blossoming. Once she’d learned (remembered?) that video games could be a group activity, they’d been starting to have game nights in Chiaki’s residence. They’re good fun, all the girls are invited and most of them turn up. Teruteru is not invited, but he often turns up.

She pins Chiaki above Sonia, below Ryota.

_Nearly full._

Fuyuhiko goes… next to Sonia, below Ibuki. Perhaps he doesn’t deserve to be surrounded by cute girls, but the space demands a photo of exactly his size (tiny, Mahiru thinks with a smirk). He falls into that Souda category of reliability. Irritating, but always on time. He boasts crime and reckless behaviour with an arsenal and an attitude to prove it - but being late for school is apparently a Yakuza don’t.

_Am I cheating with this one? Perhaps._

Alas, for Fuyuhiko, the only option she had was a photograph from before her resolve to create this board. The only old one. _Sigh._ But it captures his energy and embodies the spirit of togetherness she’s trying to convey here, so she can’t be completely disappointed. Chisa made this happen, as she made this class happen, really. Mahiru had some thoughts on a teaching process that involved threatening the yakuza heir, but it was definitely...effective. The glint in his eye and the ‘ _I like you, you’ve got guts’_ had softened her opinion of him a little, despite the levels of male rage that emanate from him at any given time. She can appreciate his spirit, if anything.

Like clockwork, six minutes after Fuyuhiko enters, Peko will come. Peko, Peko, Peko. There’s something going on between those two, but she doesn’t want to break the connection they have by asking. Mahiru is… proud to have been the one to make Peko’s photo happen. She pins this final photo to the board and closes the display, taking a step back to admire the colours togther.

“Oh, Mahiru, it looks wonderful!”

She spins around, jumping at the sight of Chisa two steps behind her.

“Oh! Thank you! What do you… what do you like about it?”

Hopefully, she’ll get a decent critique. It seems all anyone can say to her phots is ‘wow, they’re so pretty!”. _Give me something._

“Well…”, she started, “Everybody looks… exactly how I wanted them to. This was my goal in the beginning, you know? I’m so proud of how far we’ve come. But…”

“But?”

Chisa is astute, but her heart went into this display, surely there’s nothing too wrong with it? Is there? She keeps eye contact with the teacher a while, suddenly feeling like she’s the one being studied instead of the display.

“Hey. What’s going on?”

_Oh. She knows something._

“Me? Nothing!”

“Well, you’re here half an hour early.”

_Shit._

“To do the display!”

_That’s not gonna work._

“Oh?”, she raises an eyebrow, “So this _doesn’t_ have anything to do with Miss Peko?”

_Well, you got me there._

There’s no point denying it.

“I-it does, yes.”

Chisa grins in response, _she’s clearly loving this_.

“But it’s not something you really… talk about with a teacher, is it?”

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lack of Peko x girls on this site that I've made it my mission to fix - with a whopping total of two fics (/s) I make up 2/3 of the pekoizumi tag. So far. I honestly didn't think this was such a rare-pair. I'm not usually a fan of murderer/murdered ships, but given Peko's motives... I feel like it's my duty to make them gay before any bad shit can go down. I think these two really suit each other, design-wise and personality wise.
> 
> It's gonna get a whole lot gayer in the next chapter (hopefully tomorrow), I promise. This was a test of my descriptive capabilities that I think paid off?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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